{"id":40844,"date":"2010-03-14T22:40:30","date_gmt":"2010-03-14T14:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/enterprise-in-good-condition-for-potential-sca-ferry-from-smithsonian-nasm\/"},"modified":"2010-03-14T22:40:30","modified_gmt":"2010-03-14T14:40:30","slug":"enterprise-in-good-condition-for-potential-sca-ferry-from-smithsonian-nasm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/enterprise-in-good-condition-for-potential-sca-ferry-from-smithsonian-nasm\/","title":{"rendered":"Enterprise in good condition for potential SCA ferry from Smithsonian NASM"},"content":{"rendered":"

A team of engineers have completed evaluations into the condition of the test orbiter Enterprise, in preparation for a potential ferry flight to a new home \u2013 should the Smithsonian\u2019s National Aeronautics Space Museum receive one of the current orbiter fleet as a replacement after they are retired. Those evaluations found no show stoppers for Enterprise\u2019s potential ride atop of a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).<\/p>\n

Enterprise\u2019s History:<\/p>\n

Despite never flying in space, Enterprise  \u2013 otherwise known as OV-101 \u2013 had a major role to play for her offspring, and remains a vehicle of interest, even playing a role in the investigation into the Columbia accident.<\/p>\n

\"\"Enterprise was constructed at Rockwell\u2019s Air Force Plant 42 assembly facility in Palmdale, California \u2013 rolling out on January 31, 1977, for the 36 mile overland journey to NASA\u2019s Dryden Flight Research Facility (DFRC) at Edwards Air Force Base for the approach and landing test (ALT) program.<\/p>\n

Originally to be named Constitution, before a letter writing campaign by Star Trek fans resulted in her being christened Enterprise, she was used to demonstrate that the orbiter could fly in the atmosphere and land like an airplane.<\/p>\n

The ALT program involved ground and flight tests, with Fred Haise and Gordon Fullerton, Joe Engle and Dick Truly all involved in testing Enterprise during approach and landing.<\/p>\n

Five captive flights of the Enterprise mounted atop the SCA with the vehicle unmanned and her systems inert were conducted to assess the structural integrity and performance handling qualities of the mated craft.<\/p>\n

\"\"Three manned captive flights that followed, including an astronaut crew aboard the orbiter operating flight control systems while the orbiter remained perched atop the SCA. In the five free flights the astronaut crew separated the spacecraft from the SCA and maneuvered to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

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In the first four flights the landing was on a dry lake bed; in the fifth, the landing was on Edwards\u2019 main concrete runway under conditions simulating a return from space. The last two free flights were made without the tail cone, the spacecraft\u2019s configuration during an actual landing from orbit.<\/p>\n

The final phase of the ALT program prepared the spacecraft for four ferry flights, after which Enterprise was returned to the NASA hangar at the DFRC and modified for vertical ground vibration tests in 1978 at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), where she was mated with an External Tank, Solid Rocket Boosters \u2013 to be subjected to a series of vertical ground vibration tests.<\/p>\n

\"\"In 1979, Enterprise was ferried once again on the SCA, this time to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), mated with an ET and SRBs, before being transported via a Mobile Launch Platform to Pad 39A. Enterprise served as a practice and launch complex fit-check verification tool representing the flight vehicles.<\/p>\n

After several additional ferry flights around the country for orbiter testing, Enterprise went on a tour in 1983, taking in the Paris Air Show, a stop at Stansted Airport in England, trips to Germany, Italy and Canada, before returning to the DFRC.<\/p>\n

Enterprise was then ferried to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for fit checks at SLC-6 (Shuttle Launch Complex) and on to Mobile, Alabama, before being taken by barge to New Orleans for the United States 1984 World\u2019s Fair. In 1985, Enterprise was ferried from KSC to Dulles Airport, Washington, DC, and became the property of the Smithsonian Institution.<\/p>\n

Ferry Evaluations:<\/p>\n

Notes that a team of engineers had been sent to check Enterprise\u2019s conditions first appeared on Shuttle Standup\/Integration reports (L2). These evaluations were based on pre-emptive options for moving Enterprise to another venue, should the NASM win one of the current orbiters after retirement.<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n